Vivien (Vicki) Victoria Simecek Dice, a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully on the early morning of May 27, 2022 at the age of 84 after having spent the week surrounded by her loved ones.
Born May 8, 1938 in Jonesport, Maine, Vicki was the oldest of three daughters to Victor Hugo Simecek and Vivien Bell Simecek. After a life on the move as an “army brat” her family settled in Pocatello, Idaho, where Vicki attended Pocatello High School and Idaho State College. There she made lifelong friends and would soon meet her husband of 53 years, Clayne Dice, after agreeing to a blind date arranged by friends.
After marrying Clayne on March 15, 1957, the couple was blessed with three adoring children, a son and two daughters and as Clayne worked his way up the ladder in the hospitality industry, the family moved from Idaho to California. In 1971 Clayne was hired by Walt Disney World to be the first General Manager of the Polynesian Resort, a job that would permanently relocate their family to Central Florida which would remain their home for the rest of their lives.
Her favorite days were spent living on Lake Butler where she was able to watch her four grandchildren grow up, enjoy many water sports (including supervising thousands of jumps into the water from the roof of the boathouse) and hold all family holiday celebrations. In fact, Vicki would later go on to host her 35th high school reunion where many of her Pocatello High friends traveled to spend a week in sunny Florida before topping off the reunion with a 3-day Bahamian cruise.
Vicki was an avid bowler maintaining an average of 185-200 for most of her career. She competed in over 30 national bowling tournaments across the United States. She was quite proud of her 739 series and 290 game and is in the Bowling Hall of Fame not only for her scores but also for her dedication to the Orlando Women’s Bowling Association (now Orlando Regional USBC) where she served as association secretary for many, many years. She would take her love of bowling to the local elementary school to teach and inspire young children to get involved in youth sports.
Vicki loved to travel with friends and family to National Parks especially Yellowstone National Park. Together, Clayne and Vicki instilled the passion for travel in their children and grandchildren through the many vacations they took together and by sharing their travel highlights to Alaska, Australia and London.
Vicki is survived by daughters Debbie Moran (Bill), Traci Dice, four grandchildren, Ashley Sabat (Zach), Matthew Dice (Ashley), Jennifer Cool (Jerry) and Allison Budnik (Kyle) and 11 great grandchildren, Aubrey, Ben, Ava, Jaxon, Beaux, Lexington, Cam, Riley, Claire, Clayne and Soon-to-Be-Baby Budnik and sister, Kathe Polos. She is proceeded in death by husband, Clayne Dice, son Victor Dice, great granddaughter Lillian Victoria Dice and sister Cynthia Julian.